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oh dear. u can try drying them out but i think theyre stuffed my friend. try taking it to a good BMW dealer (hard to find) and get them to have a look and try an get the work done on your insurance. or their insurance.

I too have similar problem with my x5 2002 Petrol 3.0. I had a car wash two weeks ago and next morning my car refused to start. I called SOS (Car breakdown) they confirmed battery is flat and need a replacement battery. I even getting 'self leveling intact' warning message.

But what surprises me was, next day when I open the bonnet and start it is getting start as normal. But still have 'self leveling intact' warning message.

Day after that Navi is not coming up. It initially showed msg 'loading maps', then I taken out the maps dvd and put it again, now it is showing msh 'wrong dvd/cd' seems like some NAVI module is gone.

Good, what is f*** with this car. Just a car wash casing so many problems.

Any idea? what is the connection between car start and opening bonnet??

to end this story I started,
I had to change the battery. Then computer stopped working. I have to take it to BMW dealer to get the faults/computer reset. He show me some 30 or so faults were cleared. I don't know what this means, but I can feel the difference in ride.

Sad part to this story is my DVD satnav is not working. Showing error wrong dvd/cd error. It is the same DVD i had it before and worked fine.

Any clues? what might have went wrong.

By the way, dealer saying I would have kept the ignition on while car wash. I really don't know if thats the cause, even it is, it does not help now.

hi guys,
I had a similar problem with my air suspension. I changed the HCM and after a while I had the left side going down. replaced, worked fine 4 a while and then I got the rear right going down. replaced, went fine and again the left front side is going down. This time the level sensor on the lefy front wheel has gone crazy. It is reading some strange levels, and sometimes in the -ve.
So I tried replacing the HCU, didnt help. I replaced the level sensor, and still the same. Any body has an idea please help.

I had this issue, i changed about 8 fuses, then I had a bag blow, about as loud as an M-80,,,,,,,,please check to see if the area where your spare tire is stowed is not full of water, and then you will have many other issues, as i did,,,,,,,,look all the way down into the spot where that tire is, in that area is all your electronics that control the air ride system, and if its full of water it will corrode most all of those circuits, your must find the drain plug, I removed mine 5 years, it cost me about 4 thousand, it wipped out the compressor, that board that controlled that compressor, along with a few other things, not good to try to imerse that big battery as well, and keep that plug left out and that will not ruin your day ever again .......

Thanks Wholeo1955 for your reply and concern. I think you are talking about a version with rear air suspension only (i.e. single axle). Because the single axle versions has the heigth control module in the rear next to the pump meanwhile the 2-axle versions of the air suspension ( 2003 models up to 2006) comes in the front under the glove compartment. Moreover, I believe you live in a wet country like UK, meanwhile I am living in one of the dryest countries in the world (Dubai- UAE) where it seldomnly rains. In addition to the fact that I have all the diagnostic tools you can ever think of (Launch X431, CarBrain, GT1, OPPS, ...etc...). Because I sell those tools. You name it, I have it. And my last attemp to figure out what wrong yielded that ther is a CAN Bus error (which could be generated by any other fault or a genuine bus fault), and the left front level sensor is reading like-4325 mm whereas the rest are reading like 25mm to 70mm. Do not tell me to replace the level sensor cause I did and I got the same reading. I also tried to replace the HCM (Heigth control module) and still got the same reading. I guess all is left is the wiring. Or maybe some programming/coding is needed which I do not know of!! So if anybody has more knowledge about this, please help.
By the way the pump is working well, it just tries to levitate the car, works for a few seconds, and then stops again for few seconds, and again untill the battery drains and the car is still down.

The below helped me the most. I had an aftermarket stereo and somehow the 30amp fuse (slot 87) in the rear panel got removed. This caused the air pump to deflate.

I replaced the 30 amp fuse the next day and it fixed it immediately.

Quote:

Originally Posted by porschecrest

Hi khaledhajj,

I just fixed the SELFLEVEL SUSP. INACT issue for my BMW X5 today.
09/14/2010 - My 2002 X5 4.4i has the same message "SELFLEVEL SUSP. INACT". All I did is open the rear side panel and replace the very last 30AMP fuse (green color) near the right tail light. After I replaced the fuse, I just turn on the ignition not even turn on the engine. I hear the air pumping immediately and the rear end is rise higher and higher to original. The message is also gone. If you can't tell the fuse is burned or not. Just replace it with a spare fuse in the glove compartment. Hope this help and save you tone of money.

I had this problem when I brought my used x5..Took it to the dealer exspecting an outrageous exspense. The dealer told me that the car had been sitting for along time and that the suspension just needed reactivated.He said the diagnostic stated I had zero codes. He kinda resset my car and up it went. Didnt cost me anything. Zero problems since

I just fixed the SELFLEVEL SUSP. INACT issue for my BMW X5 today.
09/14/2010 - My 2002 X5 4.4i has the same message "SELFLEVEL SUSP. INACT". All I did is open the rear side panel and replace the very last 30AMP fuse (green color) near the right tail light. After I replaced the fuse, I just turn on the ignition not even turn on the engine. I hear the air pumping immediately and the rear end is rise higher and higher to original. The message is also gone. If you can't tell the fuse is burned or not. Just replace it with a spare fuse in the glove compartment. Hope this help and save you tone of money.

Thanks for the information posted, you are correct. As soon as i inspected the fuse i saw it was burn, replace it and in 5sec the truck raise up and is working like a champ. I though it was going to cost me a bunch. Thank you from a Marine

Ive got a 2003 D sport had it to the main dealers to be looked at everythings come back fine they gave the suspension a full bill of health, said there nothing wrong with it but the self level inactive warning keeps comming back on, how do I reset it myself without having BMW rob me again. any ideas, Ive replace fuses in the boot. Ive been driving it and there is no signs of leaks ride height is as it should be just need to get this warning off as its doing my head in now

I am sorry I am not familiar with the "D" model and module location. Just off the top of my head I suspect one of the sensors at the struts/wheels is stuck/dirty. When that happens the computer will lock out the leveler lest the other sensors overcorrect. Lacking that, the only way I know to reset is to have one of the diagnostic kits which will also reset any fault codes. They can be had for between $30 to $750. The cheap one works just fine for me, but you better have some familiarity with VMs to install the software on your computer. Send me a private post if you are interested, and I will dig up the vendor I used.

I had a similar issue with my newly purchased used 2006 X5 4.4i Sport. The Front Left side was lowered, while the rest of the vehicle was normal. the active suspension light would flash, or not come on at all, and the RIDE WAS HORRIBLE!!! I also had a VERY Sluggish start. I was told I needed new shocks, new alternator, BATTERY, Sensors, you name it.. But all that was needed was a new battery!! Once the battery was replaced the truck had a Normal Start and the 4 corner suspension was now working properly. I did check EVERY fuse beforehand, and replaced them , just in case. I also made sure the bags were not leaking.None were bad... Ultimately, a new battery fixed the entire issue, and I hope you have the same success.. I would suggest this method if you are experiencing similar issues, before spending too much money..
Good Luck
NYC X5 4.4iwww.physipet.com

Ok i poured water in the sunroof. it came out front drains and rear drains and down inside of rear posts right onto the subwoofer fuse block dvd player amp nav unit and ipod. trickled right down to the battery box. motherf-----r. now after i go to the uconn game i'm gonna take the inside of the ceiling apart and trace the drain gutters. got the kid sersors working again. still have level light on. (not so worried about that) but i need my tunes! now im wondering if it's the radio or amp or both.

i see, the drains look like they come out the top of the rear hatch? do the drains break or just clog? i've lived thru lots of these "build faults" like the 75000mi tranny swap for $6000. 3 steering column motors. 3 drivers window motors. 2 alternators, 2 ac pumps, water pump, a navi unit, my rims peeling. and now this! not bad for a $62000 car with 90k easy driving miles? i'm ready to strip it down and part it out and buy a chebby.

I have/had the exact same problem. In my case the radio unit was in the battery box/sump. So is the level controller. Both are close to the bottom of the box. There is no drain, so the water collects there. I had about 1-2cm water that collected and drowned the radio. That is about $1000 to replace. The corrosion and/or shorting did it in.

I was able to the dry out and resurrect the level controller.

Whenever I see someone with a levelling problem I always look for a radio problem, as well. They very often go hand in hand.

I tossed the radio and got an aftermarket radio with everything in it for less than $400. Just the touchscreen alone made it worth it.

Let me know if you have other questions. Having been through it I might be able to remember enough to walk you through repair and reconstitution.

Makes you wonder why BMW would put a radio in a box where water cannot drain and has battery acid that will combine with the water and eat up whatever is there in no time, does/t it? Idiots.

hi guys,
I had a similar problem with my air suspension. I changed the HCM and after a while I had the left side going down. replaced, worked fine 4 a while and then I got the rear right going down. replaced, went fine and again the left front side is going down. This time the level sensor on the lefy front wheel has gone crazy. It is reading some strange levels, and sometimes in the -ve.
So I tried replacing the HCU, didnt help. I replaced the level sensor, and still the same. Any body has an idea please help.

hi have same problem with front sensor after recalibrating at shop 20 kms later sensor goes negative did you find the problem

I don't know if this will help anybody or not. I had a E53 (I think) '04 X5 4.4i which I recently traded for a 535ix. Miss the thing. Anyway it had the rear self leveling suspension. Some years back a level sensor failed along with the battery. Dealer fixed this. Kept getting the Self Leveling Suspension messages anyway. Dealer replaced the computer, re-calibrated etc. to no avail. They admitted that without a fault code they would unlikely be able to fix it. Refreshing.

Never did throw a code for quite a few years afterwards but the message kept showing up. Everything worked but still had the message. What I found was that if one started it so that each detent in the ignition was felt, Acc, Run, Start there would never be a message. Worked that way for 8 years. Didn't have to be slow about it, just feel each detent instead of just snapping to Start. Forget and odds were good that you'd get the message. Just no codes to even show it happened.

What goes on is the myriad computers in the thing have to boot up and check in within a certain time frame or the diagnostic system thinks it's bad. Adding the slight pause, half second in the start up was apparently enough to allow this to happen. While fast in human terms the extra few hundred milliseconds is an eternity for a computer. No clue why no fault code.

This won't help anyone with the next gen trucks without a key. But they shouldn't have this problem anyway. When the car wakes up when you enter or in the time from putting the fob in the slot to start button this time is there for all to boot up.

I don't know why BMW moved the hardware around like they did. Mine had the battery box the lowest point with a vent on the battery, the suspension compressor and electronics were above that below the spare tire nice and dry, while the radio gear was behind the left rear wheel arch behind a remove able cover. Never any corrosion even when the battery died, and split. All the mess was in the battery box at the bottom.